Response to Coarse Materials #5

   I can't believe how long we have been in this class for. That is the first thought that went through my mind as I began writing this. It seems like only yesterday we were doing "The American Dream".  Anyway, this week we have been annotating "Ceremony" and discussing. This is normal except we are discussing by having a group that is assigned to a specific part of the book present their thoughts on that portion. It is interesting to see how a group looks at their portion of a novel. While it is interesting, I feel like i am being rude by opposing a group and their thoughts on their portion of the book. It also gets boring sometimes. I feel as though this format of discussion is a lot less meaningful and I am not exposed to new ideas as well as i could be. I think the whole class discussion is the way to go with these books. Besides being a little bored sometimes, I did for the most part, enjoy this week. One more to go till break.

Closed Reading: Diction, Syntax, Details.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/11/world/meast/rosenblatt-iraq-withdrawal/index.html?hpt=hp_c1

This is a CNN profile of soldiers serving in Iraq.

I chose this particular article because unlike most of CNN's work, this is a profile rather than a report. The Author makes the whole piece seem more like a story and less like a report through his use of Diction, Syntax and Details.
   The Author's use of diction might be my favorite part of the whole piece. The Author uses heavy, exaggerated words in order to convey a sense of importance in the article. By using words like "pierced" and "blared", it makes the tone of the piece more drastic and  crucial. The diction is like that throughout the piece and also lends it a sense of fear and anxiety that comes with being rocketed.
   The Syntax of this piece is very important to the overall tone of the article. While in a normal news article, you often see shorter fact filled sentences, in this piece, the Author uses longer detail filled sentences to give the whole piece a more story like feel. The syntax makes the article feel more like a story of a soldiers experience in Iraq and less like a report about military action in Iraq.
    Finally, the Author's use of detail is what solidifies the difference between this profile and your average news report. While news reports are filled with statistics and direct information, the Author fills this with personal details from the soldier he is profiling. While he does provide some information about military action in Iraq, he focuses on the details of the soldiers daily lives. It is less factual and more subjective. By focusing on the personal details of the soldier he is profiling, he makes sure that this article is not just another report.
    This entire article is shaped and supported by the author's use of diction, syntax and details. By utilizing those techniques, he gives his piece a sense of urgency where it needs it and provides information about the soldier's life without being bogged down by statistical information. Overall this was a well written piece that i really enjoyed.

Open Prompt #6

1983. From a novel or play of literary merit, select an important character who is a villain. Then, in a well-organized essay, analyze the nature of the character's villainy and show how it enhances meaning in the work. Do not merely summarize the plot.

    Leslie Silko's novel Ceremony is about  Tayo, a troubled WWII veteran who returns home where he must overcome his issues. One of the main instigators of Tayo's troubles throughout the book is a full blood Laguna named Emo. Though he is not always directly present, he is an embodiment of the evil and witchery that is plaguing Tayo until he completes his ceremony.

     The first time we meet Emo, he is drunk and belligerent. In this case, Emo represents the evil threat that alcohol presents to the Laguna culture. By personifying the alcoholism in the Laguna society, we as readers are able to adopt a more sincere understanding of the effects the alcoholism is having on the Laguna people. Silko also uses Emo in order to show on an individual level how alcohol is changing the veterans and the society. This makes the whole issue of alcohol in the book much more personal and impactful.

       Emo is also a racist. He hates all whites and also anyone who is not full Laguna, such as Tayo. Silko uses this quality of Emo to show just how destructive and horrible the racism towards natives is. By showing us first hand the abuse that Tayo takes from Emo on account of his race, makes the issue have a more direct effect on the story and on the reader. While Silko could have just spoken about how awful the racism towards natives was, she instead chose to show the racism from a  personal perspective. Watching Emo abuse Tayo and others because of race makes the issue much more personal and much more effective as a tool for showing readers the racism towards Native Americans of the time.

     The final evil quality that Silko portrays through Emo is violence. While the effect the war had on the different characters varies, it is only Emo who seems mostly unaffected by the war. Tayo for instance struggles with the idea that he may have killed a Japanese soldier which sends him into bouts of depression and sorrow. Emo even carries around a bag of human teeth that he captured as trophies. When Silko presents Emo like this, the reader has little option but to see him as a blood thirsty savage. Emo's affection towards violence makes Emo even more evil and despicable.  

   By presenting Emo in the way she does, Silko makes him seem extraordinarily evil. This helps the reader to see Tayo's point of view and get a better understanding of Tayo's story and struggle. Without making Emo into the madman he seems to be, the book but be much less and seem all together less sincere.